How to Enjoy The Life

The measure of things

2007-12-28T22:00:00.000-08:00

Many years ago, a devout Christian assured me that the metric system is a Satanic conspiracy. At the time, I assumed that she was simply irrational; now I'm not so sure.Undoubtedly, the metric system, based as it is on convenient multiples of ten, makes computations of distance, area, time, and weight more easy, but there is more to this than meets the eye. Without getting too deeply into the conspiracy angle, it is worth noting that the people who gave us the metric system were the same ones who also gave us the cruel and bloody French Revolution and its reign of terror. Today, most people can remember, at best, the rhetoric of "libery, fraternity, equality," and have forgotten that upwards of several hundred thousand people were murdered for political reasons in a bloodbath that previewed the democide practiced by more recent fascist and communist regimes.

If we are philosophical materialists and believe that the prime reality is mass/energy/space/time, or the observable, measurable physical universe (and this is the philosophy foisted upon us by the elites) the idea that numbers are magical or that systems of measurement, the calendar, or the location of the prime meridian might affect our consciousness and health seem absurd. But to philosophical idealists, who beleve that the prime reality is mind/spirit/soul/thought/consciousness, symbols matter very much indeed.

The Earth turns on its axis every day and circles the Sun yearly, but the axis itself wobbles in a slow circle like that of a top, taking 25,920 years to complete one"Great Year." This slow revolution, which probably plays a major role in climatic change, including ice ages, is divided into twelve astrological ages of 2160 years each, and this number itself, as we shall see, is of some importance, and only works if a circle is considered to be 360 degrees, an ancient Sumerian/Babylonian convention. An astrological age is said to begin with the heliacal rising (due east, just before sunrise) of its namesake constellation, but how is that defined? Is it the first visible star in the constellation to rise due east, or some unseen star? But getting back to the 25,920 year figure, the Earth's equatorial circumference in miles is 24,901, which is disturbingly close. Is this just coincidence? Is there any such thing as coincidence? We don't know the original length of the inch (if there ever was an agreed-upon standard), so it is possible that at one time the circumference of the Earth in miles equalled the axial wobble in years.

Two thousand, one hundred and sixty (the years in an astrological age) is ten times 216. When the Sun, Venus, and Earth are almost perfectly lined up it is called a conjunction, and by the time the next one happens, the Earth will be exactly 216 degrees further along in its orbit. These are in cycles of five, and if you diagrammed the Solar System from the north or south you could depict the elliptical orbits of Earth and Venus as circles, and draw five straight lines out from the Sun through the two planets, and these lines would be exactly 72 degrees apart. Connect the points where they intersect Earth's orbit with straight lines, and you have a pentagon. Draw interior lines from corner to corner and you have that most potent of magical symbols, the pentagram, or five pointed star. Note that the human body with a head, two arms, and two legs, has five projections, hence the astrological connection between what is above (the stars) and below (human beings). The ratio of one of these corner to corner lines to any of the outside lines of the pentagon is 1.61803..., or the Golden Mean, so beloved by ancient Greek architects and approached by many of the ratios on the human body. Any two successive numbers in the Fibonacci series (1,2,3,5,8,13,21,34,55,89,144, etc.) approach the Golden Mean, and the higher you go up the series, the closer the approach to this irrational number. This series can be used to construct a Fibonacci spiral, as in certain bacteria, snail shells, whirlpools, and galaxies, and, extended at right angles through a third dimension, a helix, and DNA is a double helix. It is starting to look as though the universe didn't just happen, but was constructed according to a plan, and that our distant ancestors knew this and created their systems of measurement accordingly, placing them in harmony with the created universe. Could it be that today's elites have deliberately destroyed this harmony?

If ten times 216 degrees is 2160, the length in years of an astrological age, five times 216 is 1080, or the radius of the Moon in miles. Is this just an incredible coincidence, or did the ancients know the distance to the Moon and its size?

To proceed further, we need to understand a few more magic numbers. The susnspot cycle is usually just over 11 years. Three times 11 is 33, the number of vertebrae in the human spine, and mystics believe that the chi, or kundalini energy must rise up from the base chakra to the crown chakra through all 33 before a human being can achieve enlightenment. Masons consider their thirty third degree to be the dividing line between the peasants and the true initiates, and the French Revolution was fomented by Masons. The ratio of the height to any base side of the Great Pyramid of Giza in Egypt is seven to eleven, and dividing the height into two base sides, or seven into twenty two, gives pi out to two decimal places. One of the planes on 9/11 was allegedly flight 11, and another was flight 77, or seven times eleven. Curiouser and curiouser.

With the above numbers in mind, consider the following.Twelve times forty times eleven is 5280, or the number of feet in a mile. Eleven we discussed above, twelve is an old traditional magic number, and forty represents an even longer Earth/Venus cycle wherein Venus' rising or setting as a morning or evening star repeats itself at predictable times. Note the use of the number forty in the Bible.Earth's diameter in miles is 72 times 11 times 10, and the sum of the radii of the Earth and Moon is 70 times 72, or 5040.

And our calendars are obviously way off. In most of the Western World today we use the Gregorian calendar, which replaced the earlier Julian calendar, and neither has anything whatever to do with any of the movements of the Earth and Moon. The important dates, at least for any solar calendar, are the solstices and equinoxes, which never fall at the beginning or end of any month. In 2007, for example, the summer and winter solstices are on 6/21 and 12/22, and the spring and fall equinoxes are on 3/21 and 9/23. Major holidays almost never fall on the dates of the solstices or equinoxes. The last day of the year, since most of the people in the world live in the Northern Hemisphere, should be the shortest day, the winter sostice, and the next day, with the sun beginning its "return," should begin a new year and a new month. The equinoxes should end months and be holidays (Passover, Easter, and Thanksgiving are always off) as well as the summer solstice, which we no longer celebrate. We are always just a little off, a little out of synch.

And if mind, or spirit is the prime reality, perhaps the location of the Prime Meridian does matter. Presently it runs through England, including the suburbs of London, and British author David Icke has convincingly argued that London is one of the power centers for the elites. This was agreed upon at the International Meridian Conference of 1884, over the objections of France. But should it not run instead through Giza in Egypt, through the (now absent) apex of the Great Pyramid? This structure was almost certainly a multi-purpose machine, and lines through it divide the Earth's land masses.

So we are always just a little off in space and time, with unknown and possibly dire consequences. It is a part of the price we pay for the comforts of modern life that we are often out of touch with nature, and, with all of our city lights, rarely see the stars, let alone the Milky Way. But our measurements have been imposed upon us, and we have the power to demand, and enforce, a change.

William B Stoecker

Article Copyright© William B Stoecker

Human can fly

2007-12-08T07:30:00.000-08:00

Good question. Us humans always wonder why can't I do this why can't I do that. But from the very being God made us humans able to do some things and not able to do others. Like flying for example. You can ask anyone and you'll get the same simple answer every time. "Humans just simply can't fly because of the gravity" and we still wonder why can't we fly? We even try to fly, we make wings and we jump off of trees etc.. We might fail to fly the first time we still keep on trying. When you look up at a bird they make flying look simple that all you have to do is flap your arms and you can fly but it's not that easy. Trust me I've tried.

Why is it that, when ever you ask, "why can't humans fly", Adults say because of the gravity. Well when they say that you probably think to your self yes I can fly but why do they say I can't? Well maybe Adults are wrong about we can't fly because of the gravity. If you go onto the Internet and look up why can't humans fly you well probably find that most of the sites say because we are to heavy and to lazy.

Have you ever look at the difference sizes of the bird's bones and human's bones? Well human's bones are about twice the size of a bird's bone. If you've ever seen the difference in a birds face and body and a humans face and body there's about a world of difference. A bird haves a pointed nose and curved wings, small body and small bones. A human has an almost flat face, we don't have curved wing we have arms. We have a big body and big bones to mach. So as you can see we are way different then birds

CYCLE OF SUFFERING

2007-10-31T06:30:00.000-07:00

Buddhist concept stemming from Hindu philosophies.
In Japan, most commonly referred to as the "Six Paths."

Long before Buddhism's introduction to India, Hindu (Brahman) beliefs and traditions held sway. One important concept was "transmigration," more commonly known in the West as "reincarnation." It holds that all living things die and are reborn again. Your rebirth into the next life will be based on your behavior in your past life. This rebirth occurs again and again. When Buddhism emerged in India around 500 BC, it too stressed this Hindu belief in transmigration, one that still plays a major role in modern Buddhist philosophy. The modern Buddhist concept of Karma is also a byproduct of ancient Hindu beliefs in transmigration and reincarnation.

Among Buddhists, all living beings are born into one of the six states of existence (Samsara in Sanskrit, the cycle of life and death). All are trapped in this "wheel of life," as the Tibetans call it. All beings within the six realms are doomed to death and rebirth in a recurring cycle over countless ages -- unless they can break free from desire and attain enlightenment. Further, upon death, all beings are reborn into a lower or a higher realm depending on their actions while still alive. This involves the concept of Karma and Karmic Retribution. The lowest three states are called the three evil paths, or three bad states. The Japanese spellings of all six, plus brief descriptions, are shown below:

Beings in Hell (Naraka-gati in Sanskrit)
; the lowest and worst realm, wracked by torture and characterized by aggression.
Hungry Ghosts
Preta-gati in Sanskrit; Gaki in Japanese
; the realm of hungry spirits; characterized by great craving and eternal starvation; see below photo/link for "Scroll of the Hungry Ghosts" (Gaki-zoshi)
Animals (Tiryagyoni-gati in Sanskrit)
; the realm of animals and livestock, characterized by stupidity and servitude.
Asura (Asura-gati in Sanskrit);
The realm of anger, jealousy, and constant war; the Asura (Ashura) are demigods, semi-blessed beings; they are powerful, fierce and quarrelsome; like humans, they are partly good and partly evil. See Hachi Bushu (8 Legions) page for details.
Humans (Manusya-gati in Sanskrit)
The human realm; beings who are both good and evil; enlightenment is within their grasp, yet most are blinded and consumed by their desires.
Deva (Deva-gati in Sanskrit);
The realm of heavenly beings filled with pleasure; the deva hold godlike powers; some reign over celestial kingdoms; most live in delightful happiness and splendor; they live for countless ages, but even the Deva belong to the world of suffering (samsara) -- for their powers blind them to the world of suffering and fill them with pride -- and thus even the Deva grow old and die; some say that because their pleasure is greatest, so too is their misery. See also the Tenbu page and Hachi Bushu (8 Legions) page.

IMPORTANT NOTE: This topic is much more complicated than presented above. In Buddhism, there are actually 28 forms of existence in the Three Realms (Skt: Triloka). The three realms, starting from the lowest, are:

Realm of Desire (Skt: Kamaloka, Kamadhatu). Beings from the six classes described above live in this realm. Here sexual passion and other forms of desire predominate.
Realm of Desireless Form, Realm of Pure Form (Skt: Rupaloka, Rupadhatu). In this realm live 18 classes of gods. Here sexual desire and the desire for food fall away, but the capacity for enjoyment and pleasure continues.
Realm of Formlessness, the Bodiless Realm (Skt: Arupaloka, Arupadhatu). In this realm live four classes of Deva. This is a purely spiritual continuum consisting of four heavens wherein one may be reborn.

The Shambhala Dictionary of Buddhism and Zen (ISBN 0-87773-520-4) has this to say about the various forms of existence:

"Between the various forms of existence there is no essential difference, only a karmic difference of degree. In none of them is life without limits. However, it is only as a human that one can attain enlightenment. For this reason Buddhism esteems the human mode of existence more highly than that of the gods and speaks in this context of the "precious human body." Incarnation as a human being is regarded as a rare opportunity in the cycle of samsara to escape the cycle and it is a challenge and obligation of humans to perceive this opportunity and strive toward liberation (enlightenment)........Although the gods are allotted a very long, happy life as a reward for previous good deeds, it is precisely this happiness that constitutes the primary hindrance on their path to liberation, since because of it they cannot recognize the truth of suffering."

Only those who attain enlightenment, the Bosatsu (Mahayana), the Rakans (Theravada), and the Nyorai (Tathagata or Buddha, in both traditions) are free from the cycle of birth and death, the cycle of suffering, the cycle of samsara. To escape from the cycle, one must either (1) achieve Buddhahood in one's life or (2) be reborn in Amida Nyorai's Western Pure Land, practice there, and achive enlightenment there. Those reborn in the Pure Land are no longer trapped in the cycle of samsara, and can thus devote all their efforts to attaining enlightenment.

Six Directions of Reincarnation
Six Realms of Samsara (Tib. rikdruk)
六趣 or 六道眾生 or 六道 (Japanese. Six Roads)

天道 or 天趣 Deva (deva-gati)
人道 or 人趣 Humans (manusya-gati)
阿修羅道 or 阿修羅趣 Ashura (asura-gati)
畜生道 or 畜生趣 Animals (tiryagyoni-gati)
餓鬼道 or 餓鬼趣 Hungry Ghosts (preta-gati)
地獄道 or 地獄趣 Beings in Hell (naraka-gati)
above from Dictionary of Chinese Buddhist Terms
(by Soothill & Hodous)

Ten Stages From Hell to Buddhahood
There are nine states from Hell to Bodhisattva (Bosatsu). The highest level, the tenth level, is Buddhahood. After the six lower states come the four highest states, the "Four Noble Worlds." These final four stages can only be achieved through deliberate effort -- in contrast, our movement in the six lower states is passive and blinded by false understanding. The Four Noble Worlds are:

Learning -- seeks truth from teachings or experiences of others
Realization -- seeks truth from one's own direct perception of world
Bodhisattva (Bosatsu) -- aspires to help all achieve salvation; there are six perfections (parmitas) that a Bodhisattva must cultivate in order to attain Buddhahood (learn more about parmitas); another term for Bodhisattva is Arhat (Sanskrit); this refers to the first disciples of the Historical Buddha; these disciples also attained enlightement, soon after their teacher; the term Arhat is associated specifically with the Theravada school. For more on the Bosatsu (Mahayana tradition) click here. For more on the Arhat (Theravada tradition) click here. The Bosatsu and Arhat will surely attain Buddhahood, but for a time, they renounce the blissful state of Nirvana (freedom from suffering), vowing to remain on earth in various guises (reincarnations) to help all living beings achieve salvation. See the Bosatsu page for more details.
Buddhahood -- In Japan, those who have attained Buddhahood are called the Nyorai (Tathagata), Butsu, and Hotoke. Terminology here, or visit the Nyorai menu.

Jizo rescuing souls in hell, 14th century (detail)

Rokudou-e　六道絵
Below Text Quoted from JAANUS
(Japanese Architecture & Art Net Users System)
www.aisf.or.jp/~jaanus/deta/r/rokudoue.htm
Also occasionally read rikudou-e. Literally Six Paths. Paintings of the "six paths" (rokudou 六道) of existence are also called the "six realms" (rokushu 六趣) of reincarnation . According to Buddhist thought, all living beings are caught in an endless cycle of birth, death, and rebirth into one of the "six realms" being reborn up or down the scale according to the extent or lack of one's purity and good deeds in the previous existence. One can escape only by achieving enlightenment.

Described in numerous texts including the Lotus Sutra (HOKEKYOU 法華経) , the "six realms" are:

Hells (Sk: naraka, Jp: jigoku 地獄)
Hungry ghosts (Sk: preta, Jp: gaki 餓鬼)
Animals (Sk: tiryasyoni, Jp: chikushou 畜生)
Bellicose demons (Sk: asura, Jp: ashura 阿修羅)
Humans (Sk: manusya, Jp: jin 人)
Heavenly beings (Sk: deva, Jp: ten 天)

Buddhists provide four additional realms for enlightened beings:

Sravaka arhats (Jp: shoumon 声聞)
Pratyeka buddhas (Jp: engaku 縁覚)
Bodhisattvas (Jp: bosatsu 菩薩)
Buddhas (Jp: hotoke 仏)

These can be combined with the six realms to form the "ten worlds" which are also depicted in painting (i.e., jikkai-zu 十界図). The concept of reincarnation in realms originated with Indian ideas of "five realms" (Sk:gati, Jp: goshu 五趣), which excluded the Ashura (Asura). Early Indian depictions of the five realms are found at Ajanta such as cave #17, late 5c. Illustrations of the six realms from 8-9c survive in China at Dunhuang 敦煌 (Jp: Tonkou).

The earliest Japanese depictions consist of hell scenes that are found in Nara period (8c) paintings related to Kannon Bosatsu 観音, such as the hairline engraving (kebori 毛彫) on the halo (kouhai 光背, Nara National Museum) of the principal image (honzon 本尊) of Nigatsudou 二月堂, Toudaiji 東大寺. From the 9-10c (mid-Heian period), Pureland (joudo 浄土) theologians vividly write of the torments of the "six realms" so as to make salvation by Amida Nyorai 阿弥陀 and the rewards of his paradise all the more desirable. Screens showing hell scenes were used in a ceremony called butsumyou-e 仏名会 at the imperial palace. The Essentials of Salvation (OUJOUYOUSHUU 往生要集), written by Genshin 源信 (942-1017) in 985, became very popular among Fujiwara nobles and greatly influenced the creation of pictures of the six realms. A set of fifteen hanging scrolls at Shoujuuraigouji 聖衆来迎寺 (Shiga prefecture 13c), visualizes Genshin's description of the rokudou, devoting four scrolls each for the realms of humans and hells. In the turbulent dislocations of the late 12c (end of the Heian period), religious patrons and artists seemed particularly interested in visualizations of the realms of hells and hungry ghosts. The Hell Scrolls (Jigoku zoushi 地獄草紙, 1180's, Tokyo National Museum and Nara National Museum) and Hungry Ghost Scroll, (Gaki zoushi 餓鬼草紙, 1180's, Kyoto Natioanl Museum) are well known, and sometimes the term "rokudou-e" in the narrowest sense of the term indicates these handscrolls (emaki 絵巻). From the Kamakura period, Jizou Bosatsu 地蔵 often took the place of Amida, to act as savior from the six realms, and depictions of rescue from hells are often found in the scrolls of stories related to Jizou.

SAMSARA (Sanskrit)

The cycle of life and death, rebirth and redeath, of delusion and suffering, in which all sentient beings are trapped unless they can break free of the cycle. The "cycle" refers generally to the Six States of Existence (this page), but there are also two, three, four, seven, and twelve kinds of samsara (not discussed herein). The Six States are also known as the Six Paths/Roads of Reincarnation/Transmigration. One must achieve nirvana (enlightenment, satori, emancipation, nibanna) to break free of the cycle. These latter terms are synonomous in modern English usage. See Terminology page for more. In Japan, where Mahayana teachings are widely practiced, groupings of six statues of Jizo Bosatsu are quite common, one for each of the six realms. In the Tantric traditions of Tibet, the Wheel of Life on Tibetan Tankas depicts the six realms with great graphic detail -- the wheel is traditionally clutched in the hands of Yama, the Lord of Death, and shows images of hell, torture, war, human life, divine spirits, and other detailed iconography. See below for Tibetan Wheel of Life Tanka.

KARMA, KARMIC RETRIBUTION, Cause and Effect
From Sanskrit KARMAN, "deed," fate, or work.

The law of cause and effect. Doing good deeds will result in good effects, doing bad deeds will result in bad effects. Your actions in this life thus impact where you are "reincarnated" into the next. In essence, you "reap what you sow." The sins of the parent are NOT the sins of the child -- that which occurs to you in this life is that which you have brought upon yourself. You are responsible for your actions, not others. This is entirely opposite the Western tendency to place blame on others (e.g., my parents were neurotic, so they made me neurotic). This unwillingness to take responsibility in Christian traditions streches back to Adam and Eve, who themselves blame the serpent for beguiling them into eating the fruit of the forbidden tree. Yet, it appears, after further research, that in early Buddhist traditions among the Jains in India, parents could indeed pass on their bad karma to their children. Says Daniel J. Boorstin in his book "The Seekers:"

Karma was a byproduct of belief in the transmigration and reincarnation of souls. Karma was a name for the force of all a person's acts -- good or evil -- in all past incarnations shaping his destiny in the next incarnation. So karma was an ingenious way of giving each person some responsibility for prosperity or suffering in the present life. A classical form of the idea imagined this karmasaya as an accumulation of the forces of good and evil from what a person did (or failed to do) in earlier incarnations. The suffering or good foturne in the present life, then, was a punishment or reward for earlier acts, just as suffering or good fortune in future lives would compensate for the acts in this life. Writers in the Upanishads suggested that somehow the practice of yoga or the power of a god who lived outside the realm of karma might possibly help get a person off the wheel of samsara. Thus a person might avoid consequences of his acts in earlier incarnations. It is thus conceivable that a devout ascetic, renouncing all corrupting desires, might struggle free of his karmic debts.

Some Hindu sects saw karma as physical seeds that could be passed on through the generations. A dying father, in one Upanishad text, is said to transfer his karma to his son. "Let me place my deeds on you." Then the son's acts of atonement would free the father in his later incarnation from the consequences of his own earlier misdeeds. The Jains, from the sixth century B.C., made much of these possibilities. They imagined the pure liva, or living spirit, in each person that could and should be kept free of the karmic pollution that might burdern a person's next incarnation. The Jains' discipline aimed to keep the liva unpolluted, and so assure its rising toward enlightenment through rebirths. Their ahimsa, dogma of absolute nonviolence, made them fearful even of accidentally killing insects. As rigorous vegetarians, they applied ahimsa to plants. They refused to pick a living fruit from a tree, but waited till it fell ripe to the ground.

Followers of Buddha (who died about 480 B.C.), embroidering the Hindu notions, found their own ways of calculating the ethical balance sheet. They distinquished "deed karman" from "mental karman" (thoughts and motivations), and distinguished deeds from their results. They also attached karma to families and nations. But they kept inviolate their belief in the inevitable balancing of the karmic books. A person's present life was determined by past actions in other incarnations, but only until all those influences had been used up. Still, the chanting of sacred verses by a relative or a monk might reduce the force of evil karma. The Buddhist belief in an all-pervading flux kept them from any idea of a personal immortal soul. But they imagined a kind of karmic residue that adhered through endless incarnations."

Mengkaji Konsep Kausalitas al-Ghazzali

2007-09-28T08:41:00.000-07:00

Hamid Fahmy Zarkasyi

Konsep kausalitas al-Ghazzali menjadi populer karena ia merupakan bagian (masalah ke-17) dari Tahafut al-Falasifah. Di situ ia menyatakan bahwa "Apa yang selama ini dianggap hubungan sebab dan akibat bagi kami adalah tidak pasti (ghayr dharuri)." Karena penolakannya terhadap kepastian hukum kausalitas itu maka Ibn Rusyd menuduhnya telah menolak ilmu pengetahuan, sebab katanya sumber ilmu pengetahuan adalah kausalitas.
Kritikan Ibn Rusyd terhadap Tahafut al-Falasifah dalam Tahafut Tahafut khususnya dalam soal kausalitas diamini oleh beberapa cendekiawan Muslim kontemporer. Tak pelak lagi al-Ghazzali pun dituduh sebagai biang keladi kemunduran sains dan filsafat dalam Islam. Padahal disertasi doktor Michael Marmura telah membuktikan bahwa Ibn Rusyd salah paham terhadap al-Ghazzali. Malangnya kesalahpahaman ini dipakai lagi untuk menyimpulkan bahwa pemikiran Ibn Rusyd di ambil Barat sehingga Barat menjadi maju, sedangkan pemikiran al-Ghazzali diambil oleh umat Islam sehingga mundur.
Kenyataannya, pemikiran al-Ghazzali yang menyatakan bahwa hukum kausalitas itu tidak pasti, justru diambil dan dikembangkan oleh Malebranche dan David Hume di Barat. Sedangkan metode skeptiknya serta prinsip-prinsip epistemologinya dimodifikasi oleh Descartes. Sementara itu pemikiran Ibn Rusyd yang diambil Barat adalah teori kebenaran gandanya. Teorinya itu menurut teolog neo-Thomist, Etienne Gilson, menjadi akar rasionalisme di Barat. Tapi pada saat yang sama dipakai para deis untuk menentang wahyu, dan memberi sumbangan kepada lahirnya sekularisme.
Berbeda dari Ibn Rusyd, al-Ghazzali membawa konsep integrasi fisika dan metafisika, sains dan teologi atau agama dan sains. Ini jika konsep al-Ghazzali itu dipahami dengan 'paradigma' yang berbeda dari Ibn Rusyd, tapi bukan dengan teori paradigma Thomas Kuhn. Paradigma atau framework untuk memahami konsep kausalitas al-Ghazzali teori worldview (pandangan hidup atau pandangan alam). Framework ini telah diaplikasikan al-Attas dalam konsep Islamisasinya atau Alparslan dalam memahami konsep sains Islam. Di Barat, konsep ini digunakan Thomas F Wall untuk kajian filsafat, dan Niniat Smart untuk perbandingan agama. Yaitu dengan mengkaji suatu konsep dalam kaitannya dengan keseluruhan konsep yang terstruktur.
Dengan framework ini posisi al-Ghazzali menjadi jelas, bahwa ia melihat kausalitas pada realitas fisik sebagai bagian dari realitas metafisik. Bahkan realitas makhluk yang relatif itu tergantung kepada realitas metafisik yang absolut. Al-Ghazzali membela konsep Tuhan Maha Pencipta. Proses penciptaan-Nya tertuang dalam Asma al-Husna, yaitu al-Khaliq, al-Bari, al-Musawwir. Karena itu kausalitas pada alam semesta ini, meskipun telah ditentukan sejak awal penciptaannya, ia tetap tergantung pada Kehendak Tuhan dan tidak berjalan sendiri secara alami. Ini berseberangan dengan para filsuf yang membela konsep emanasi, di mana hubungan Tuhan-makhluk bukan dengan perantaraan aksi (fi'il) Tuhan tapi melalui proses emanasi yang pasti (necessary) dan hukum kausalitas pada fenomena alam inipun akhirnya berjalan sendiri secara pasti.
Bantahan al-Ghazzali terhadap kepastian hukum kausalitas bukan tanpa alasan. Sebab kepastian bentuk hubungan (wajh al-iqtiran) sebab-akibat itu tidak dapat dibuktikan secara empiris. Yang ada hanya pengalaman bahwa setiap ada sebab biasanya diikuti oleh akibat (nafs al-iqtiran). Inilah yang ditiru oleh David Hume. Tapi, berbeda dari Hume, al-Ghazzali menganggap apa yang kita saksikan sebagai kebiasaan ('adah) sebab-akibat ini tunduk pada kehendak Allah.
Posisi al-Ghazzali dalam masalah ini berada di antara mutakallimun dan falasifah. Al-Ghazzali menggunakan teori jawhar (atom) para mutakallimun (Asy'ariyyah dan Mu'tazilah). Segala benda dan makhluk di dunia ini terdiri dari substansi (jawhar) dan aksidensi ('ard). Dan semua itu diciptakan Allah secara terus menerus (dawam al-khalq wa al-in'idam). Tapi ia tidak sependapat dengan mutakallimun yang menolak adanya kausalitas. Al-Ghazzali justru sepakat dengan falasifah bahwa di alam semesta ini terdapat hukum kausalitas. Hanya saja ia tidak sependapat dengan falasifah yang mengatakan bahwa hubungan sebab dan akibat (kausalitas) dalam alam semesta ini adalah pasti. Di mana ada sebab pasti di situ akan ada akibat. Setiap api (sebab) pasti membakar (akibat). Bagi al-Ghazzali ini akan membatasi kekuasaan Tuhan. Artinya dengan mengetrapkan konsep Aristotle ini maka hubungan antara alam semesta dengan Tuhan menjadi tidak langsung. Tuhan tidak mempunyai peran langsung dalam mengatur kejadian alam yang berupa sebab akibat ini. Dengan teori ini berarti hukum-hukum alam ini berjalan sendiri tanpa peran langsung Tuhan.
Pandangan falasifah sejalan atau bahkan dapat dikatakan berasal dari konsep emanasi di mana Tuhan sebagai Sebab Pertama dan Makhluk sebagai akibat berkaitan secara pasti. Dari Penyebab Pertama ke akal pertama hingga akal ke sepuluh merupakan kaitan serial yang pasti (necessary). Namun, dalam teori ini akhirnya Tuhan tidak lagi berkaitan langsung dengan dunia materi, termasuk dalam menentukan hubungan kausalitas.
Kajian tentang perdebatan al-Ghazzali dan para falasifah ini tidak dapat didekati dalam perspektif jadali. Ia lebih tepat didekati dengan teori atau framework worldview. Dengan menggunakan falasifah ini, konsep kausalitas al-Ghazzali ditelusuri dari konsepnya tentang Tuhan, yang merupakan realitas Absolut, konsep alam, konsep manusia dan konsep ilmu. Kesemuanya itu diperlukan sebagai matrik perbedaan.
Dari matrik ini maka dapat diketahui bahwa dalam konsep al-Ghazzali kausalitas di dalam realitas fisik dilihat dalam kaitan dengan realitas metafisik. Bahkan kausalitas di dunia fisik sebagai bagian dari kausalitas dalam realitas metafisika. Jika demikian maka ilmu pengetahuan tentang fenomena fisik yang empiris tidak bisa dilepaskan dari pengetahuan metafisik. Ini berarti bahwa sains merupakan bagian dari teologi. Inilah landasan dari teori kausalitas al-Ghazzali yang secara diametris bertentangan dengan pandangan sains Barat modern yang terpisah dari metafisika (teologi).
Tapi dapatkah kita memperoleh pengetahuan dari hukum kausalitas yang mungkin dikaitkan dengan realitas metafisika. Menurut al-Ghazzali dapat, sebab ia memiliki prinsip integrasi bahwa setiap ilmu pengetahuan agama adalah rasional dan setiap pengetahuan rasional adalah religius. Dalam proses epistemologinya ia menggunakan metode demonstrasi (al-burhan) para filsuf yang ia modifikasi agar sejalan dengan prinsip-prinsip kausalitasnya. Walhasil, pengetahuan yang diperoleh dari kausalitas dalam fenomena alam itu tidak pasti (daruri/necessary), tapi hanya sebatas "tentu" (certain). Jadi tuduhan Ibn Rusyd bahwa al-Ghazzali menolak ilmu pengetahuan ternyata tidak benar.

Perjalanan Hidup adalah berdasarkan Keseimbangan Alam

2007-09-25T09:54:00.000-07:00

Kalo kita pikir, segala sesuatu ini bagai roda yang berputar. Terkadang peristiwa yang terjadi selalu hampir sama, berulang sifatnya. Yang membedakan adalah tempat terjadinya dan waktu yang tidak bisa di putar balik. Jika kita lebih cermat mengamati apakah yang kita anggap sial atau terjadinya masalah, pada dasarnya adalah akibat dari sesuatu yang pernah kita lakukan sebelumnya. Dapat pada hari yang sam atau dimasa lalu. Tanpa bermaksud melompat kepada kesimpulan yang prematur, saya mengatakan bahwa kita sebagai manusia masuk dalam lingkaran 'sebab dan akibat'. Kejayaan atau kesuksesan saat ini yang didapat seseorang, karena kerja keras dia di masa sebelumnya. Demikian pula, malangnya nasib karena malasnya untuk berusaha di masa sebelumnya. Dari sisi religi, hal ini banyak disinggung dan dikuatkan, misalnya salah satu ayat yang menyatakan bahwa 'tidak akan berubah nasib suatu kaum, jika mereka tidak mereka sendiri yang mengubahnya'. Beberapa ahli fisika juga menemukan formula ini melalui beberapa teori kesimbangan, sebab-akibat, dan yang menghebohkan adalah teori relativitas Einstein.

Orang Tiongkok yang memilik umur kebudayaan paling tua di Jagad inipun telah menyadari bahwa segala kebaikan itu pasti akan berbuah kebaikan, atau mereka mengharapkan kemakmuran dari sisi ekonomi. Budaya memberi uang di hari-hari religi mereka adalah salah satu harapan akan perbaikan naik ekonomi mereka.